Active & Passive Voice

Subject Verb Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement

Issue: In English there should be an agreement between the subject and the verb in a sentence. All verbs must agree with their subjects in person and number.
Importance: When you construct sentences your goal is to effectively communicate to your audience. Having structural errors such as subject-verb agreement in your writing may prevent your audience from understanding your ideas. Problems occur in the present tense because one must add an -s or -es at the end of the verb or use helping verbs has / is when the subject or entity performing the action is a singular third person, he, she, it, or words for which these pronouns could substitute.

Examples:
Mark has finished writing his exam.
•Because Mark is a subject expressed by a singular third person noun, has should be used as a helping verb.

My mother opposes the new work policy.
•In this sentence, a singular third person noun mother was used to express the subject of the sentence. Thus, the verb to oppose should agree with the subject and end in -s.
In order to determine whether your subject and verb agree, you need to identify the subject of the sentence.

Definitions
•A subject is a word in a sentence that represents someone or something that is being discussed. Sometimes a subject can be expressed by a noun (e.g., people, weather), other times a pronoun can be used to express a subject (e.g., I, she, he).
•A verb is a word in a sentence that represents an action or a process (e.g., go, walk, do).
Examples:

I bought this book last semester.
•I is a subject of the sentence which is expressed by a pronoun. The verb in this sentence is bought which expresses the action completed by the subject.

A lot of people drink people in the morning.
•The subject in this sentence is a plural noun people. The verb drink expresses the action carried out by the subject.

Rules for subject verb agreement

1. When words like the following are used as subjects, they take singular verb.

Everybody	Anybody	Somebody	Nobody	Each
Everyone	Anyone	Someone	No one	Either
Everything	Anything	Something	Nothing	Neither

Everybody knows the answer.

Nobody speaks German here.

Somebody was in the room.

2. When every and each come before a singular subject joined by and, the verb is singular.

Every man and woman has the right to vote.

Each student and teacher was aware of the difficulty.

3. Prepositional phrases that come between the subject and the verb do not change the number of the subject.

The teacher as well as the students was working on the problem.

The mother together with her children is waiting.

Some examples of prepositional phrases that function like that are:

As well as

In addition to

Together with

Along with

Except

4. When the verb comes before the subject as in there or here sentences, it agrees with the subject that immediately follows the verb.

There is a tree in the garden.

There are many trees in the garden.

There is a pine tree and some oaks in the garden.

There goes the cat.

There seems to be a relationship.

There arise problems.

There arises a problem.

5. “Introductory it” is always singular.

It is my sister who works in the hospital.

It is my cats which cause the trouble.

6. Subjects joined by and take a plural verb (except for number 2).

My sister and brother live in Berlin.

Both the teacher and the student were surprised.

7. Several, many, both, few are plural words and take a plural verb.

Both are happy with the grades they got.

Many were lost on the way.

Few have done their homework.

8. Some nouns are always plural and always take a plural verb.

• Trousers, pants, slacks, shorts, briefs, jeans
• Glasses, sunglasses
• Scissors, pliers, tweezers

My jeans are old.

This year shorts are in fashion.

Where are my scissors?

9. Some words such as none, any, all, more, most, some, majority, half may take either singular or plural verbs depending on the meaning.

All the money has been spent.

All of the students know the answer.

10. When subjects are joined by words such as neither, either, not only the verb must agree with the closer subject.

Either the man or his wife knows the answer.

Either the man or his friends know the answer.

Either the children or the man knows the answer.

11. Collective nouns are usually singular when regarded as a unit.

My family lives in Ankara.

Our team has won every game this year.

Sometimes when the members are seen as functioning independently, these collective nouns may be plural.

My family have a lot of money.  (members of my family)

Our team are working hard to win every game they play. (team members)

·        Some collective nouns in this group are:

Family, team, crew, class, government, committee

12. Some nouns have the same singular and plural form. They take singular or plural verb depending on the meaning.

This species of monkeys lives only in India.

There are many species of monkeys.

·        Some nouns in this group are:

Species, series, deer, fish, sheep

13. Expressions stating amount of time, money, weight, volume are plural in form but take a singular verb as in:

Three weeks is a long time.

Two hundred dollars is a lot of money.

14. Some nouns look plural with –s but they take a singular verb.

Sciences	Abstract nouns	Diseases
Physics Mathematics Statistics Economics	News Politics Ethics	Measles Mumps

        Maths is found difficult by many students.

Statistics requires complicated methods.

15. Generic references with the require plural verb.

The rich are not always happy.

The young like to listen to loud music.

The old hate loud music.

The English are distant and the French are humorous.

16. Note the use of foreign plurals.

Singular	Plural
Analysis Thesis Crisis Basis Parenthesis	Analyses Theses Crises Bases Parentheses
Curriculum Memorandum Datum Bacterium Medium	Curricula Memoranda Data Bacteria Media
Criterion Phenomenon	Criteria Phenomena
Stimulus Radius Syllabus	Stimuli Radii Syllabi

17. Don’t forget that some common English words have irregular plurals.

Plural	Singular
Child Person	Children People

18. A relative pronoun takes a singular or plural verb depending on which noun it modifies.

Lisa is one of the students who have passed with an A.   (Many students passed with an A, Lisa is one of them.)

Lisa is the only one of my students who has passed with an A. (Only Lisa passed with an A.)

Subject Verb Agreement

Exercise

1. Neither of those sharks circling your boogie board __________ hungry enough to bite. 

A. looks 

B. look 

C. looked 

D. had looked 

2. One hundred and fifty gallons __________ the amount of liquid the average living room rug 

can absorb. Rachel discovered this fact after taking a long shower when the curtain wasn't 

tucked inside the tub. 

A. is 

B. are 

C. was 

D. were 

3. Asteroids and comets slamming into Earth __________ Marge; she tries to remain under the 

protective cover of her roof as much as possible. 

A. worries 

B. worry 

C. worried 

D. used to worry

4. These scissors __________ so dull that I'm not sure you could slice butter with them! 

A. is 

B. are 

C. has been 

D. had been 

5. Physics __________ proven to be Jerry's easiest subject this semester. He brings Carol, the 

lab assistant, an oatmeal-raisin cookie, and, as his reward, she finishes his report. 

A. has 

B. have 

C. had 

D. will have 

6. At Wendy's Washateria, all of the dryers _________ six quarters before spinning wet clothes 

dry. 

A. gobbles 

B. gobble 

C. gobbled 

D. will gobble 

7. At Wendy's Washateria, each of the industrial washing machines _________ so forcefully 

during the spin cycle that new patrons dash outside, convinced that an earthquake is shaking 

the building. 

A. rocks 

B. rock 

C. rocked 

D. will rock 

8. Every cereal bowl and casserole dish _________ slipped out of Sheila’s soapy hands and 

shattered on the hard tile of the kitchen floor. Sheila really needs to buy a dishwasher. 

A. has 

B. have 

C. will have 

D. had 

9. Not only fat caterpillars but also my neighbor's rabbits __________ chewed my poor tomato 

plants to leafless nubs. 

A. has 

B. have 

C. will have 

D. had 

10. Either The Matrix or Aliens ___________ Sam's favorite science-fiction movie. 

A. was 

B. were 

C. is 

D. are 

Talk about hobbies

Tell Me About Your Hobbies

Teacher : Class, you all must have known what hobby is. Yes, hobby is some kind of activity that we like to do in particular time or circumstance, for example in our leisure times. Each of you must have different hobbies. You can do your hobbies all the time as long as it doesn't bother your studying times or harm others. Would you tell me what your hobbies are, Class? How about you first, Ricky?

Ricky : Um… yes Ma’am, my hobby is playing football. I always feel happy when I start playing football with my friends.

Teacher : Playing football is a good hobby. Playing football can make your body healthy. Good hobby, Ricky, just don’t forget your time to study! Okay…. Now… What about you, Tania? What’s your hobby?

Tania : Yes, Ma’am. My hobby is playing violin.
Teacher : Wow, how good are you at playing violin, Tania?
Rahmat : [Suddenly interrupts] She plays violin terrifically, Ma’am. I heard and watched her playing with her violin once, and it was awesome, the sound was really melodious.
Tania : No, Ma’am, Rahmat is exaggerating. [blushing]
Teacher : Hahaha.. It looks like we have a violinist in our class. It’s okay, Tania. You don’t have to be shy, you should be proud of it. So, what about your hobby, Rahmat?
Rahmat : Um… me, Ma’am? Um… my hobby is collecting currencies.
Teacher: Collecting currencies?
Rahmat : Yes, Ma’am. I like to collect currencies of every nation. I like to collect coins, tokens, and paper moneys. There have been some collections of coins, tokens, and paper moneys from several nations I keep in my bedroom. I’m still trying to collect them.
Teacher : Wow, that is a quite unique hobby, Rahmat. How and where did you get the money?
Rahmat : Some of them I got from people freely and for some others I needed to pay for them. I usually have to buy them from internet. I used my savings to buy them since most currencies were sold quite expensive.
Teacher : That’s a great hobby, Rahmat. But just remember; do not spend all of your money in order to add your currency collections. Use your own money wisely.
Rahmat : Yes, Ma’am.
Teacher : And…. How about you, Paula?
Paula : Yes, Ma’am. Um…. My hobby is cooking.
Teacher : Wow, cooking. What kind of food you can cook, Paula?
Paula : I can make some Indonesian foods and western foods like pastas and pizzas.
Teacher : Wow, that’s good. Who taught you to cook, Paula?
Paula : It’s my mother, Ma’am. She is a chef.
Teacher : Oh, wow. Now we have a young chef in our class. But don’t forget to keep studying for your education, Paula.
Paula : Yes, of course, Ma’am.
Teacher : Alright, I’d love to know all of your hobbies, Class. So prepare a sheet of paper and start writing down and tell me about your hobbies.

Glossaries Of Conversation

Bother: menganggu

Harm: merugikan, menyakiti
Violin: biola

Awesome: luar biasa, hebat
Melodious: merdu
Exaggerating: melebih-lebihkan

Freely: dengan gratis, Cuma-Cuma

Wisely: dengan bijak

Prepare: menyiapkan
A sheet of paper: selembar kertas

Proud of it: bangga akan hal itu
Collecting currencies: mengumpulkan uang (uang kertas, koin, dsb)
Token: sejenis uang koin
Paper money: uang kertas
There have been: sudah ada..


Conversation Practice

Task: Pair up with your friend and ask question about your friend's hobby.



Resource:

1. http://www.gobookee.org/grammar-quiz-subject-verb-agreement-multiple-choice/
2. http://www.buowl.boun.edu.tr/students/grammar/writing%20guides/SUBJECT%20VERB%20AGREEMENT.htm
3. www.youtube.com
4. http://www.belajaringgris.net/percakapan-bahasa-inggris-tentang-hobi-3011.html